RP: "Adventures in Gunrunning" - Act 14
POSTED BY: FrauDirektor
UPDATED: Saturday, April 24, 2004 00:52
VIEWED: 22840
PAGE 8 of 11
Mal's Move:
Location: Galley/His Bunk
Looks like everyone else has work to do, so MAL decides he has to get onto his as well. Polishing off the last of his muffin, he cleans up the table where he was sitting and heads for his bunk, stopping at the fridge for a bottle of Sunny D. "Strange how nobody knows what's in the stuff, but everyone drinks it" he thinks, "And what the tzao gao is a 'Sunny D' anyhow?"
This is the job MAL hates most. He folds down the small worktable and opens a lockbox stuffed with slips of paper, which he begins to sort into piles.
"Let's see. Fuel, ammo, docking fees, rebuilt catalyzer, lithium grease, batteries, food, water, toilet paper. We spend that much on gorram toilet paper? License fees, bribes, Cortex access. Huh? 200 hours to Jayne's bunk? That bun tien-shung de ee-duai-ro been downloading techno-porn again? Med supplies, beer, tampons (sigh), laundry soap, water recycler filters, spool of 10 gauge wire, spool of 14 gauge wire, spool of 18 gauge wire. Damnit, Kaylee, pick a size. Duct tape, chop sticks, light bulbs, rope. Never have too much rope. An' tequila. Half of which is still sloshin' around under the hold."
"Now the credit side. Inara's shuttle rent, an' Thorne's deposit for this trip. still got the balance and his sweetener pending. This plus that, carry the 7, oops, thats a 5 there. An' the total is... Go-se! Whoever said freedom's not free sure had the right of it. But at least we can keep flying' for a while yet."
Tzao gao = Shit
Bun tien-shung de ee-duai-ro = Stupid inbred sack of meat
Go-se = Dog crap.
"Keep the Shiny side up"
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Damon's turn:
LOCATION - DINING ROOM
Damon waves off Merz's appology and gets up to follow her to the kitchen. He reaches the sink, slurps up a mouthful of water and sloshes it around his mouth. After spitting it out and repeating the process, he drys his face on his sleeve and walks back to his box. He puts the last of the straps in their appropriate piles and starts tieing the bundles together.
I'm not broken, in my dream I win...
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LOCATION - WAVE INTERCEPT STATION
0700 AMT {Alliance Mean Time}
As ...
After he brief change of command, the Watch Captain sat in the darkened control center. His face was illuminated by the scrolling text of daily log on his hand comp. He had to catch up on the previous Watch's notes and unusual items.
"Sir!", one of the numerous wave technicians called out. His call breaking the cadence of clicks and beeps issuing from the equipment in the vast chamber.
After toggling his hand-comp to his incomplete entry in progress, he responds, "Yes, Station 42?"
"Operative THX-1138 is not responding to our hails."
The WC frowns as he states, "Isn't ... ", what was his cover name? the WC thinks, Rev B ... Bem or somesuch? After moment the Captain continues, "...er ... he supposed to be on total wave-break - no contact."
"Yessir, but his ident card was used in a level Nexus-Omega communication. Protocol states that a wave-check with the operative be preformed in the case of NOCs.
"Was it?"
"Yessir! He gave the appropirate countersigns. Wave duration was a concern, so at his aknowledgement, we cut contact."
The Captain furrowed his brow. "What is the problem then?"
"InternSec have since decoded a fragment of the orginal NOC. We have attempted to re-connect with 1138 to verfy, but he is not responding."
"Problem with the decode?!"
"Nosir ... we needed him to verfy the content I.S. did decode."
"So?", The Captain spat.
The technician gulped, "Um, it seems... from the fragments... that Adelai Niska is finally making his move on the Enclave and maybe using 1138's ident-codex."
The Commander gaped at the tech in total stupfication. After a timeless moment, He sighs in a great burst and reaches for the hot-line.
End Of Scene
"Observe Analyze & Respond"
Motto of the A.P.E.s
Alliance Protean Engineers
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Interlude 2 Part III
LOCATION - NEW HOKKAIDO / UCHIGATANA CITY DOCKS
Docking Bay 54, Cargo Tug Rubicon
0713 AMT
As ...
Corzaire Jax, ESQ. sits on a small milkcrate. He is muttering and making small sharp gestures. His movements tilting the crate in such a manner that it threatened to dump him on the Rubicon's small cargo bay floor. Jax pays no heed, he is pondering murder.
"Such a simple thing... " he thinks, his mind concocting wonderful images of a full blown torture and murder of scruffy, self-important officials. He shakes off the idea of ending a sentient's life with a deep frown - "Takes too much trouble to neutralize all the crime scene evidence. " He blows a halfhearted raspberry and lowers his head to his hands.
"Smutbunnies!" He explodes. Anger vented, he sighs, "As Milla would say."
Jax grumbles further to himself in a silly brogue, "Why canna things ere ga smooth?!!!"
Hlastoni drops down from the cockpit with his usual grim expression. Seeing Jax bent over, he pauses. After a few moments, it becomes apparent that Jax is not going to look up.
Hlastoni's jaw firms as he grits his teeth at Jax's frailty of spirit. Slightly shaking his head, he speaks in a booming tenor, "Squire, maps are done."
Jax finally totters off the crate at the report of Hlastoni's voice. He falls on his back with a thud to the deck. Ironically, flat on his back he is looking up at Hlastoni.
With no sign of his pratfall coloring his voice, Jax says, "So, I suppose you want me to wave Thorne with the choices?"
"Yes, you know the history between he and I." Hlastoni rumbled with a stony expression.
"It wasn't that bad. You didn't know his family estate was in Serenity Valley. Well, at least you didn't know it was his when you strafed it in your skiff." Jax replies innocently.
With no change of expression or acknowledgment of Jax's barb, Hlastoni hands Jax a memory rod. "The choices for a drop and exchange are on New Hokkaido's moon. Over half a dozen prime locations. All criteria are noted -- timing of orbital traffic, cover, escape routes and the like. Tell him to wave his decision to both the Rubicon and Chimera." Hlastoni grates. Without waiting for an answer, he does an about-face and ascends back into the cockpit.
Jax tilts his head back to follow Hlastoni's progress. When the pilot disappears, Jax sighs softly, lips twist in a wistful grin, he whispers, "Never forgives, never forgets, loves his pain."
Jax relaxes back to the cool deck with a big grin at his friends foibles, "What a smeghead."
EOS
"Observe Analyze & Respond"
Motto of the A.P.E.s
Alliance Protean Engineers
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MERZ move
START LOCATION - DINING ROOM
She watches DAMON rinse his mouth out with a small sense of amusement, without ever taking her attention off of ZOE making fresh coffee. Next time . . . it will be correct.
Once ZOE has shown her the way, she heads back to the table. DAMON is bundling up the sorted straps and returning them to the box.
“Go ahead and pick us a selection of straps about 2 ½ to 3 inches wide. Get a couple more than we need in case we need to switch something out for some reason. I will catch KAYLEE and get us some of the tools I am not carrying and meet you on the Bridge. Tell Wash he should have fresh coffee soon. We will do the other station first and give him a chance to see what we are doing and if he wants it done that way or a different way.”
She grabs their empty mugs, carries them to the sink, and heads off to the engine room.
END LOCATION - TRAVELING: DINING ROOM TO ENGINE ROOM
EOM
If Justice is the dish, then I am your waitress
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Damon's turn:
START LOCATION - DINING ROOM to CARGO BAY
Quote:
“Go ahead and pick us a selection of straps about 2 ½ to 3 inches wide. Get a couple more than we need in case we need to switch something out for some reason. I will catch KAYLEE and get us some of the tools I am not carrying and meet you on the Bridge. Tell Wash he should have fresh coffee soon. We will do the other station first and give him a chance to see what we are doing and if he wants it done that way or a different way.”
She grabs their empty mugs, carries them to the sink, and heads off to the engine room.
Damon watches Merz leave the room and sets aside the bundle of 4-point straps. There aren't very many of them but at least they have a couple extra to work with.
With the rest of the bundles neatly back in the box, and the 4-pointers hanging around his neck, he closes the lid and lifts the box from the floor.
"Merz, I'm takin' these down to the cargo bay," he calls down the hall as he turns for the stairs.
END LOCATION - CATWALKS
I'm not broken, in my dream I win...
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Thorne's Move:
Location: His cabin/Galley/Cargo bay
Checking the comm, THORNE sees it's lunchtime. He has finished his preparations for this evening and has some time to kill. Maybe a light snack and then some excercise. He remembers seeing a weight bench in the hold. He changes into shorts and a sweatshirt and heads out.
The galley is empty, although the coffeemaker is just sputtering the last few drops of a new batch into the carafe. "Had enough caffine for the day. Maybe just some water with lunch.", he thinks. A quick search turns up a loaf of bread and some cheddar cheese. A little of this will do to keep hunger away. and there'll be better later.
Alternating bites of bread and cheese with swigs of water, he walks to the cargo bay. The storage boxes have been stowed away again, and the floor is clear. Might as well let the food settle a bit before starting on the weights. He props a molded plas pallet against the bulkhead and backs away a few steps. Reaching to the back of his neck, he removes three flat throwing knives from their sheath inside his collar, and begins to juggle them.
Noticing a short, heavy hammer clipped to a beam, he grabs it and adds it to the mix. the pallet has a shipping label on it, about the size of a short card. "That'll be the target", THORNE decides. Still juggling, he closes his eyes and turns his back to the pallet. After a moment, he whirls, eyes still closed, and throws the three knives in a continuous blur of steel. They hit the label almost as one, left edge, center, right edge, penetrating the tough plas at least an inch. Before the sound of their impact dies, the hammer hits the center knife headfirst, driving it completely through the pallet.
"Not bad for an old man", THORNE says quietly. He'd not likely throw away a perfectly good knife in an actual fight, but this little routine is a good test of his dexterity and kinesthetic sense. he recovers his knives and the hammer and returns them to their places. After a few stretches, he begins his tai chi. Need to wait for someone to come by who can spot him before he starts on the weights.
EOM
"Keep the Shiny side up"
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Damon's turn:
LOCATION - CARGOBAY
Damon stares down from the catwalk as Thorne goes from juggling knives to throwing them at a lable with his eyes closed.
"Tzao gao..."
He knows that there are people who spend their whole lives practicing knives but something about this is just down right unnatural. He makes his way down the stairs as Thorne mutters something inaudible.
"I think my list of people not to piss off just got longer," he says, reaching the floor. He walks over to the pile of boxes and sets his down.
OOC: Well, if I was at home I could have looked up something more profound for Damon to say in Chinese. Something like "Holy mother of God and all her whacky nephews" 
but I guess I'll have to make do with what I know.
I'm not broken, in my dream I win...
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_________
River goes to her room, looking at the memory stick.
"Time to stop playing, no more games."
_________
Filler post, write more later.
_____________
"Freedom is the Freedom to say that 2 plus 2 make 4. If that is granted, all else follws"-Winston, 1984
Teela Brown, keeper of bad typing.
"No one reads these things any way."- Bart on Blackboard
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MERZ move
LOCATION - BRIDGE As...
Merz slides back to her own dorm, to gather her tools before dropping by the engine room to gather some additional tools from KAYLEE. She is almost . . . happy with work to do and no current worries. Once she acquires her own tools, she buckles on the belt and practically bounces down to the engine room.
Once she has arrived, she sticks her head in to announce that she is there. KAYLEE is standing with her back to the door, looking/listening to Serenity’s engine, her thoughts very far away. MERZ notices a small pile of tools on the floor near the door, precisely what she would have requested to borrow. Assuming that they were set out for her, and very reluctant to interrupt KAYLEE and wherever her thoughts have taken her, MERZ carefully and quietly gathers up the tools and scarpers off toward the bridge.
Outside the bridge she listens carefully for any indication that WASH may be busy and hearing nothing untoward, heads through the door. Once again, she addresses WASH before doing anything else.
“Mr. WASH, Captain Reynolds has put in a request for belts on the chairs in the command room, in case of future maneuvering such as experienced yesterday. I was planning to rig a cross belt arrangement for the gunner station. I can do the same for you since I consider a lap belt to be inadequate for the task. However if you have a preference, DAMON and I can rig your station to your satisfaction. Please let me know.”
She pauses to let him speak before turning away.
EOM
If Justice is the dish, then I am your waitress
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